Dead Elvis

Brilliant Sonic Journey

     

The album can be seen as three movements. Beginning with slow burning jazz shifting to a Latin influenced exploration of the soundstage. The first movement concludes with an electro dub cover of twist and crawl with original English Beat vocalist Rankin Roger. The second movement opens with dirt, a masterpiece of rock samples and bleeps. Big sound but not big beat. Dirt moves seamlessly into Rocco. The album version is actually the dub mix but it fits better on the record than the original. Rekkit is a sonic assault that combines kroutrock with trance pacing. The third movement slows things down. Starting with I spy the album becomes increasingly atmospheric. 68 Balcony is an absolute masterpiece a shimmering loop exercise with a bassline that is something like getting hit by brass knuckles under a velvet glove. Sly, the final track, recalls clicks by Thomas Brinkman although the former predates the latter by several years. This isn't a party record. Get the best headphones you can, find a comfortable chair in a dark room and spend an hour in this record. You will revisit it many times. Since 1996 I've probably listened to this record 1000 times. For me it has moved from soundtrack to soundscape. A treasured record. This is my desert island album for 68 balcony alone. If you can find the video for dirt take a look. It is equal parts beauty and depravity.